From Creations to Creators

 The first story I remember hearing was the Story of Creation from the Bible. Whether you are Christian, Pagan, Wiccan, Atheist, Jewish, or anything else there is one thing that humanity agrees on - we had to come from somewhere. Some say we came from the Big Bang, and others say we were molded out of the dirt by a deity, no matter your beliefs, the fact that humans were created has a huge impact on who we are as a species.

From the time we are born, we have the urge to create. We babble and gurgle, trying to create words to communicate. As toddlers, we create block towers, finger-paint art and clay sculptures. As kids, we doodle in notebooks, host concerts and plays for our family members, and play make-believe. Humans are natural artists. Though we are not the only species on this planet that has shown signs of higher thought and creativity, there is something to be said about our undying need to create. 

As a writer, you know what it feels like to want to create. If you've ever gone a long time without writing you've probably felt an itch to pick up a pen or a restlessness settle in your limbs. Humans, after all, were not created to be idle.

The Story of Creation is one that's always resonated with me as a writer and an artist. When I was a child the concept of God was explained to me as a fatherly figure watching over me while I slept. I'm going to be honest, He had Santa Clause vibes for me. Everyone made him sound like he was an old geezer sitting on a heavenly throne, ready to dish out punishments if you were bad and blessings if you were good. That image of God never sat well with me. I never really saw him as a ruler, or a tyrant as some make Him out to be. Every time I thought of God, who I refer to now as Yahweh, I kept going back to the Story of Creation. 

If you are not familiar with the Bible, it is a collection of books with the same theme. The first book in this collection is Genesis, which is where we find the original Story of Creation. I say original because there is a second account of creation in the Bible, which sums up the original account well.

Genesis chapter 1 (New American Standard) says, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light." 

On a literature level, this passage is beautiful. The wording used invokes a feeling of emptiness and then hope as light is brought into existence. However, this is not the Story of Creation that I think about going I think of Yahweh. At this point, you might be thinking this sounds more like a devotional than writing advice, but I assure you I have a point. Hang with me, okay?

In the New Testament (the second half of the Bible), lives a book named John. John starts off by saying, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of Mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it." 

I could stop here and we could spend hours upon hours describing the genius that is John's symbolism in the above paragraph. I mean, look at what words he capitalized. Look at how he took a story that he would have grown up hearing and applied it to the concept of a trifold diety. That's not what I want you to pay attention to right now, however. I want you to read the above paragraph again, then read the one from Genesis. Do you notice something? 

Words created life. In both of these stories Yahweh spoke and creation occurred. He used words as writers use words, though he did not write them on paper as we do. He simply spoke life into existence. This concept fascinated me as a child and for a while I thought of Yahweh as a voice. I didn't see him as an old man in the sky but as a booming, resonating voice that echoed through all of space and time. 

Then I aged a little more and I started to focus on another part of the Story of Creation. Later on in Genesis, it's stated that Yahweh formed humanity out of dust and that image is one that has remained to me to this very day. Now when I think of Yahweh I think of callused hands covered in dried clay and paint. I think of torn jeans, sweat, and dusty skin. To me, Yahweh is an artist and in my book series Web of Lies, that's how I show Him to be. 

I believe that humans create because we were created. People talk about art coming alive, but this takes it to a whole new level. 

I create because I was created to create. So, if humanity has this natural urge to create, is it any wonder why we sometimes fall into the trap of believing ourselves as gods?

The first time I heard the term 'god concept' applied to a writer I was in college. I was in a creative writing and novel class where we were discussing the art of creating stories. Writers don't just tell a story, we literally create new worlds, people, places, things, and ideas. In a sense, we put ourselves in the role of a god for our characters. After all, our characters would have no place to live if it wasn't for us. In fact, they wouldn't exist if it wasn't for us. They should worship us, adore us, do as we say...oh, wait...that's getting a little theological, isn't it?

I'm sorry if this post comes off preachy. I don't label any of my books as Christian Literature, but for me, my beliefs are very closely tied to my writings. Though I write young adult fantasy, there isn't a single one of my stories that is simply meant for enjoyment. There are hidden meanings and symbols in every single one of them. And, yes, I left the church years ago, but even though I no longer proudly declare myself a Christian it isn't because I don't believe in Yahweh. I'm a spiritualist and my patron god is Yahweh. I talk with Him, yell at Him, cry with Him, I even worship Him in my own way, I just do it outside the church because me and the bride of Christ have issues. I got tired of two-faced people proclaiming they were servants of Yahweh and then turning around and stabbing their fellow humans in the back. Like, Yahweh legitly said, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself" and "Do unto others as you'd want to be done unto you", yet there are so many 'Christians' out here hating everyone.

Being a writer has ultimately helped me understand my own beliefs better. By creating worlds and characters and then getting frustrated with my characters because they won't listen to me, I've learned a thing or two about free will. By carefully crafting regions, animals, racist, cultures, and societies I've learned how important it is to take care of the world that I live in. It's helped me connect with my creator. 

People who don't write have a habit of telling us writers, "You made them, so just make them do what you want," when we complain about our characters going on strike. But people who write know it's not that easy. Somehow, someway, our creations take on a life of their own and even though we may be sitting in our favorite spot, with our favorite notebook, and our favorite beverage, ready to write, our characters might be playing a card game and refuse to participate in the story. It happens and during these times we have to give ourselves and our characters grace. 

Our characters aren't going to listen to us 100% of the time and that's okay. My favorite example of this is the character Nico in Heroes of Olympus. Rick Riordan created the character of Nico in his first Olympian-themed series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It is very obvious in this series that Nico is a background character. He rarely even makes it to side character status with as little he engages with the main characters and I think Uncle Rick planned for him to be that way until Nico started developing his own fan base. Honestly, it would be fun to ask Riordan about that sometime. 

In the second series, Nico takes a more active role in the story. It's in this series that we, as readers and writers, can see him developing his own personality and free will. 

Spoiler alert here, so skip this paragraph if you're reading the series and you don't want to know what happens. For the majority of Heroes of Olympus everyone -meaning Nico's friends - thinks Nico doesn't like Percy because he has a crush on Annabeth, Percy's girlfriend. Turns out, a little encounter with Cupid shows that he actually has a crush on Percy. This scene caused a slight scandal in the book world, leading to it being added to the band book list. In an interview about this event, Riordian was asked, "Why did you decide to make Nico gay?" and his response was iconic. I can't find the exact interview to show you but what he basically said was, "I didn't. I was writing the story and Nico said he was gay. So, I shrugged and moved on." 

Your characters will pull stunts like this on you all the time. Remember as you're writing to be open-minded about their development because though you made a character and placed them in a specific family, gave them a specific background, and put them through specific circumstances, you cannot control how they respond to their environment. 

I am currently struggling with this, and I'll admit that the only reason Web of Lies hasn't gotten a sequel series is because I'm scared of what Matthew Hex is going to do. I love Matt. I created Matt to represent innocence. In White Lies (Web of Lies 1) he is full of questions. Yes, he was my main character but his sole purpose was to show the importance of holding onto yourself and your innocence as the world around you crumbles. He ended up showing how easy it is to lose that innocence. By the final book (What Comes Around), Matt goes from being a happy-go-lucky, slightly moody teenager who loves video games and has a boyish grin to a young adult with haunted eyes and a shallow smile. He lost his innocence as hate took root in his soul.

There's no way around it, Matt has to be the main character in the sequel series. I have a cover for the first book, and I have a plot and a basic outline, but sitting down to write the story terrifies me because I know the Matt that's waiting for me in the series is not the Matt I created in White Lies. I still love him. I still want to sit with him at a park table and tell his story, but he's very angry and I know that the series is going to get darker before it gets lighter.

Sometimes this happens in writing and when it does you might have to distance yourself from your 'problem child' for a little bit. You'll need to think about what they've gone through, consider how they will respond, and then, when you're ready, you can sit down and help them through their life while hoping their story will help someone in reality.

Being a human is messy and so your story will get messy. Ultimately, our writings mirror our souls, society, and the world in general. It's our job, as creators, to take that messiness - that dirt, if you will  - and craft it into something extraordinary.